


Ain't No Mountain High Enough

by xtremeroswellian



Series: Before I Knew You [3]
Category: Roswell (TV 1999)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Separation Anxiety, Summer Vacation, good parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23793628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: As Alex's 16th birthday approaches, the trio tries to deal with being separated for the occasion.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca & Liz Parker & Alex Whitman
Series: Before I Knew You [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714129
Kudos: 1





	Ain't No Mountain High Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Set the summer before Sophomore year of high school.

_"...Don't you know that  
There ain't no mountain high enough  
Ain't no valley low enough  
Ain't no river wide enough  
To keep me from getting to you..."_

"So that'll be one Blood of Alien smoothie, two orders of Saturn rings, and two Jupiter burgers," Maria DeLuca repeated, glancing down at her order book.

"Yep."

"Okay, I'll get your drinks in just a minute." She walked away from the table and turned the order into Jose, who just grinned at her.

Maria rolled her eyes and headed for the milkshake machine, where one of her best friends, Liz Parker, was already standing. "I so need a vacation. Which is funny because we're on summer vacation."

Liz smiled. "I know what you mean." She sighed and poured the milkshake into a glass. "At least we'll get a day off day after tomorrow for the holiday."

Maria leaned against the counter, waiting for Liz to make her last milkshake. "What do you suppose Alex is doing right now?"

Liz's smile faded. "I don't know."

"Liz?"

"I just...feel bad, you know? I mean, it'll be his 16th birthday, and we won't even get to see him."

"Yeah, I know." Maria frowned.

"I guess I just had this image in my mind that we'd all get to share our 16th birthdays with one another."

Her frown deepened. "This sucks."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeff Parker frowned as he listened to his daughter and his surrogate daughter talking. He couldn't deny that since the summer began, both girls had been kind of...down. And the Cafe had been unusually quiet since the Third Musketeer had left for Memphis with his parents.

"I really miss him."

Jeff looked up in time to see Lizzie blinking back tears. He watched Maria do the same.

"Don't do that. We still have two hours left on this shift and I don't want my mascara to run."

Liz smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Right. After work?"

"Ice cream to drown our sorrows?"

"Yeah."

"I'm there."

Jeff watched as the girls went back to work. Then he smiled as an idea began to form in his mind.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elaine Whitman watched as her son sat at his computer, slumped over in the chair and playing a game of Tetris. "Alex?"

"Yeah?" His tone was bored.

"Why don't you come out and visit with us for awhile?"

"No thanks."

"Well, why don't you take the car and drive down to the Square and see if you can find some of your old friends," she suggested.

"I don't have any friends here. I never did," he said flatly.

Elaine frowned and decided to change the subject. "Well, what would you like for your birthday?"

Alex sighed, paused his game and turned around in his chair to look at her. "Do you really want to know?" She nodded. "A one way ticket back to Roswell would be great."

"Alex, I know you're bored here, but--"

"Mom, really. I could go home and stay by myself at the house. If I needed anything, the Parker's and the DeLuca's are there," he pleaded.

"You cannot stay at home alone for two months. You're only 15--"

"I'll be 16 in two days."

"--and besides, you don't see your aunt and uncle very often and they won't always be around."

He rolled his eyes and turned back to his game.

Elaine sighed and then gave up. She moved back to the living room and sat down next to her sister.

"Still depressed?" Vonnie asked.

"Yeah. He really misses his friends back home."

"Understandable. A boy his age is expected to miss playing basketball and football with his pals," her brother-in-law, Mark replied, stroking his chin.

Elaine exchanged a glance with her husband, but didn't say anything.

The phone rang and Vonnie answered it. "Yes it is," she said after a moment. "Elaine, phone for you."

Elaine frowned and took the phone from her. "Hello?"

"Elaine? Hi, it's Jeff Parker."

"Well, hello, Jeff. Nice to talk to you. I hope everything's okay," she said in concern.

"Oh, yes. Everything's fine. Actually, I was calling in regards to an idea I wanted to run by you."

"Okay."

"Well, the girls have been rather...depressed without Alex around," he began.

"I know what you mean Jeff. Alex has been moping for a month."

"Well, I was thinking there might be a way to cheer them up..."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So what do you think, Amy?"

Amy DeLuca smiled. "I think it's a great idea. Honestly, Maria's been moping around the house and I just haven't been able to comfort her. I know it helps having Liz here, but--"

"I know. But it's like the girls have lost a part of themselves. Elaine said the same thing."

"I swear, I've never seen three kids so inseparable...well, except for Diane and Phillip's children and that Guerin boy."

"Yeah," Jeff agreed.

"Just do me a favor and let me be the one to tell Maria."

"No problem, Amy. I'll send her home in a bit."

"Okay. And thank you." She hung up the phone and smiled. She couldn't wait to tell Maria.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz changed the channel on her radio and met Maria's eyes.

_"Listen, baby  
Ain't no mountain high  
Ain't no valley low  
Ain't no river wide enough, baby..."_

Maria sighed and dug her spoon into the pistachio ice cream. "You know, as much as I hate school...I wish it was August so Alex was back."

"Me too," Liz agreed. She stuck her spoon in the vanilla ice cream container so it was standing up. "Hey, maybe he's online right now!" She set the carton on her school desk and sat down at her computer desk. She turned her computer on and waited for it to boot up. Maria quickly moved from the bed to sit on the desk, kicking her legs back and forth.

Liz logged onto the Internet and brought up Yahoo Messenger. Then she sighed. "He's not online."

"Suck a duck," Maria muttered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I just don't think it's a good idea, Jeff. They're so young." Nancy Parker frowned and turned to wash the dinner dishes.

"Nancy," he said gently. "Liz is probably the most responsible girl on the planet. And Amy's already given her permission for Maria to go. They'd be fine."

"If you let her have her way every time she mopes, she'll never learn to work through her problems on her own."

He sighed. "Nancy, you know that this has been hard on them. Alex, too. And it's his 16th birthday. They haven't asked for time off in the Cafe for anything except to study for a couple of tests."

"You're spoiling her."

"She's my only daughter."

Nancy sighed. "I don't know...."

"It's one week, honey. And they're good kids."

She stared down at the murky dish water, trying to find another counter-argument. When she couldn't think of anything, she sighed again. "All right. One week."

Jeff smiled.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Maria?" Amy DeLuca stuck her head into her daughter's bedroom.

Maria was sitting in the middle of her floor, mixing some of her aromatherapy oils. "Yeah?"

"Can we talk for a few minutes?"

"Sure. Come on in."

Amy stepped around the little vials and sat down on the bed. "I know how much you miss Alex."

She looked up. "Yeah."

"Well, I know his birthday is in a couple of days."

"Do you think I could call and talk to him for awhile?"

Amy lowered her head. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"But, Mom! I've only talked to him on the phone once since he left. And it's his 16th birthday!" she protested. "First of all, it's very unfair that his parents dragged him across the country at all, and secondly, not letting me call him on his birthday is cruel and unusual punishment."

"Honey, I--"

"What if I offered to pay for the call out of my waitressing money?"

"Maria, the reason you can't call him on his birthday is because you're going to be seeing him."

Maria leapt to her feet. "He's coming back? When? Wait, is he already here? If he's back in Roswell and didn't call me, I'll wring his neck!"

"No, he's not here. You're going to go see him."

Maria stared at her. "What?"

"Surprise." Amy smiled.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! I have to call Lizzie! She'll--" Maria stopped mid-squeal. "--be crushed that she's stuck here alone."

"Actually, Liz is going to be joining you on the plane. This whole thing was Jeff's idea."

"Liz is going, too?" she repeated. She let out an ecstatic shriek. "Oh my God this is so cool! The Three Musketeers ride again! Look out, Memphis, here we come!"

Amy smiled as she watched her daughter dance around happily.

Then Maria stopped cold. "Wait. Did you say, 'plane?'"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We're going to Memphis?" Liz repeated, searching her father's face.

"Yeah. You leave tomorrow afternoon. That is, if you want to go," Jeff added.

His daughter let out an uncharacteristic squeal and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much, Dad! You're the best!"

He smiled and hugged her back. "Well, I try," he kidded. "Oh, and Alex doesn't know. His mom wants to surprise him. Apparently Alex has been depressed since the day they got there."

Liz's eyes filled with concern. "Poor Alex."

"But I have a feeling that a big dose of you and Hurricane DeLuca will bring him right out of that."

She laughed. "I have to call Maria." She picked up her phone and hit speed dial button one. She frowned and hung up. "Busy."

Jeff smiled knowingly as the phone rang a few seconds later.

Liz picked up the receiver. "Maria! I just tried to call you!" she said with a laugh.

Jeff shook his head and left his daughters to talk in private, but the smile never left his face.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"...My love is alive  
Way down in my heart  
Although we are miles apart  
If you ever need a helping hand  
I'll be there on the double  
As fast as I can..."_

"It is too late to re-think this whole flying thing? I mean, couldn't we exchange these tickets for a couple of train tickets?"

Liz watched Maria as she tapped her foot nervously on the ground in the airport waiting area. "Do you want me to get you some tea or something?"

Maria shook her head. "You know, we could just stay here and call him."

She bit back a grin. "I somehow think that Alex would be upset that we had the chance to come and see him and chose to call instead because of your fear of flying."

"This just can't be a good idea. This whole flying concept defies the laws of gravity. And you can't just break laws and get by with it. It just doesn't work that way."

"People have been flying for a very long time, Maria. Billions of them. Grandma Claudia has been on over three dozen plane trips, and not once did she ever crash."

"Your grandmother is a very luck woman then." Maria rose to her feet and started pacing back and forth. She turned to glare at Liz. "How can you be so calm at a time like this?"

She shrugged. "I'm just not worried. I can't help it."

"Now boarding Flight 405 at Gate C."

"That's us." Liz stood up and grabbed her duffel bag off the floor, along with the present that she and Maria had gotten for Alex's birthday.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. I can't do this."

"Yes, you can."

"No, really, I can't. You go. Tell Alex I said hi and I'm really sorry I didn't make it, but--"

Liz grabbed her arm and pulled Maria alongside her. "Everything's going to be just fine."

"Lizzie--"

"Maria, calm down. Look at it this way. You're getting out of Roswell, New Mexico, for an entire week. No annoying tourists, no alien stories, no long shifts at the Crashdown when Agnes doesn't show up."

"Yeah, you're right. Being splattered on the ground will be so much better."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alex, I'm going to go to the store, do you need anything?" his mother asked as she stuck her head into the guest room he was using as a bedroom.

Alex lay on his bed, counting the sparkles on the ceiling. Last night he'd counted 482. Right now he was up to 403. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked over at her. "Yeah, some sedatives would be great. You know, like those kind they use on elephants when they want to do a dental exam."

His mother rolled her eyes. "I'll see you later."

"Sure. Whatever." He dropped his head back onto his pillows and started counting again.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was half asleep when he heard the doorbell ring awhile later.

"Hey, Alex, can you get that?" his aunt called. "I'm busy in the kitchen!"

Sighing, he sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed. He wondered where everyone else was. He moved down the hall sleepily.

"This had better not be Aunt Wilma and Uncle Henry because I am so not in the mood to babysit all those damned kids," he muttered.

The bell rang again.

"I'm coming, jeez." Alex unlocked the door and pulled it open. His mouth dropped open as he stared wide-eyed at Maria DeLuca.

_"...ain't no mountain high enough  
Ain't no valley low enough  
Ain't no river wide enough  
To keep me from getting to you..." _


End file.
